ArticlePediatric obesity2021
BMI status and associations between affect, physical activity and anxiety among U.S. children during COVID-19.
Article in Pediatric obesity, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 50 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
50 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 68 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Association Between Affect and Adiposity in Childhood and Adolescence: A Systematic Review.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2026Pooled it
- The mediating effect of resilience between physical activity and mental health: a meta-analytic structural equation modeling approach.Frontiers in public health · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Indirect positive health outcomes of COVID-19: a systematic review.Public health · 2023Pooled it
- The association between physical activity and mental health during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2022Pooled it
- Screen Time, Child Depression, and Anxiety During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.JMIR pediatrics and parenting · 2026Review
- The impact of the SARS-CoV2 pandemic on the mental health of scoliosis patients in Germany.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2025Article
- Impact of COVID-19 Diagnosis on Weight Trajectories of Children in the US National COVID Cohort Collaborative.Childhood obesity (Print) · 2025Article
- Unpacking the Mood States of Children and Youth in Saskatchewan, Canada, in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Insights from the "See Us, Hear Us 2.0" Study.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Impact of COVID-19 Diagnosis on Weight Trajectories of Children in the US National COVID Cohort Collaborative.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
- Thyroid Cancer and Physical Activity: A Bibliometric Analysis.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2025Review
- Overweight Prevalence Changes Before and After COVID-19 in Spain: The PESCA Program Longitudinal Outcomes 2018-2021.Nutrients · 2024Article
- School-aged children's movement behaviours and subjective health complaints in Japan: a cross-sectional study during COVID-19 pandemic-related school closures and after school reopenings.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Night Screen Time is Associated with Cognitive Function in Healthy Young Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2024Article
- How did previously obese children and adolescents behave during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in relation to weight gain?Revista paulista de pediatria : orgao oficial da Sociedade de Pediatria de Sao Paulo · 2024Observational
- Article
- Kids gone wild - Alcohol use and patient characteristics in pediatric trauma during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.Pediatric investigation · 2023Article
- How Societal Forces of Change Are Transforming Youth Physical Activity Promotion in North America.Journal of physical activity & health · 2023Article
- Anxiety, self-efficacy, and their determinants in school students during the COVID-19 pandemic: a survey in Southeastern Iran.BMC psychiatry · 2023Article
- Physical activity and mental health in children and youth during COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
- Update of
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThere is concern regarding how the COVID-19 pandemic may impact the psychological and physical health of children, but to date, studies on mental health during the pandemic in children are limited. Furthermore, unprecedented lifestyle stressors associated with the pandemic may aggravate the childhood obesity epidemic, but the role of BMI on child activity levels and psychological outcomes during COVID-19 is unknown.
objectivesWe investigated how emotional responses (positive/negative affect), physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviours related to anxiety among U.S. children with healthy weight and overweight/obesity during the pandemic.
methodsSixty-four typically developing children (63% girls, 53% healthy weight) aged 9 to 15 years completed two virtual visits during the height of 'stay-at-home' measures from April 22 to July 29, 2020. Children completed 24-hours PA recalls, state portion of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children and the 10-item Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children.
resultsIndependent of child BMI status, child anxiety scores were over five standard deviations greater than normative values from paediatric populations prior to the pandemic. Higher positive affect and PA were each associated with reduced anxiety levels in children with overweight/obesity, whereas higher positive affect was associated with reduced anxiety in children with healthy weight. Greater leisure screen time was associated with higher negative affect irrespective of child BMI status.
conclusionsThese associations highlight the potential mental health benefits of maintaining positive affect, engaging in PA and limiting leisure screen time for children during the pandemic and suggest that these associations may be particularly relevant for children with overweight/obesity.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.